Bewitched!
by fanwriter1245
Summary: Ethan and Benny meet a painfully shy girl-who turns out to love video games just as much as them! But when she completely changes her personality, Ethan and Benny must figure out what's up and save the day, especially when they find out she wants to kill Sarah! Starts off as kinda EthanxOC, but ends with BennyxOC and Etharah!
1. Meeting Natalia

**So I recently just became obsessed with this series a few weeks ago. In fact, in about two weeks, I watched the whole series...twice! I REGRET NOTHING! And I am now totally in love with Matthew Knight! Like I'm watching pretty much everything he's in. It's kinda sad. Anyway, immediately, I knew I wanted to write a fanfiction for this. I am a total Etharah fan, but unfortunately, I didn't add as many Etharah moments as I would've liked. But there are a lot of moments with Benny and the OC, so that's okay, right?**

**Love all my faithful followers! Enjoy!**

* * *

Ethan Morgan and Benny Weir were the best of friends…and they were also total nerds. In fact, they had a reputation for it. But that didn't stop them from crushing on the two popular girls: Sarah Fox and Erica Jones, respectively.

Well, Ethan crushed on Sarah, but Benny kind of hopped from girl to girl.

"I'm telling ya, E, I am a genius," Benny said leaning against the locker next to Ethan's.

"What spell did you do this time? Is it gonna hurt us again?"

"Mess up one love potion and you never hear the end of it," Benny sighed. "No, even better. I pulled a few strings and bought this bad boy!"

Benny held up a new video game that Ethan snatched from his hands as soon as he saw the cover. "You got the new Galactitac video game?"

"200 levels of pure awesomeness! I'm totally coming over tonight to play it!"

Ethan and Benny watched a girl who was presumably their age, if a not a few months younger, walk past them. She was wearing a dark, thin hoodie, and the hood was pulled up, blocking her face. Her hands were shoved in her front pockets, and it was clear she didn't like attention drawn to herself. She looked up at the two boys and they caught sight of her face for just a second.

And immediately, they were drawn to her. Her eyes were like beautiful blue little orbs. Her deep brown hair had various golden streaks throughout, no doubt drenched by the sun's golden light. It fell down along her face in perfect waves a good length beneath her shoulder.

She quickly turned away once she met their eyes.

"Whoa…" Benny said. "She. Is. Hot."

"Yeah…" Ethan said, forgetting all about his crush on Sarah.

They watched as she walked down the hallway, head down, avoiding all looks. Suddenly, she was pushed up against the wall by one of the popular girls and her little posse. They had her cornered and she looked away from them. It seemed like she was used to it, but was still quite unhappy about her predicament.

"Going to class, little freak?" the popular girl laughed.

The girl in the hoodie just looked away and didn't respond. Ethan could've sworn he saw tears forming, but he was too far away from her to be sure.

The popular girl put her arm on the wall, forbidding the other girl from leaving. "I don't think so. I'm not done with you yet."

"Yes, you are," Ethan said. He had no idea where this was coming from. He was not one to go into confrontation or draw any attention to himself whatsoever. But he couldn't stand this poor, beautiful girl to be treated like this.

At the sound of his voice, the girl's head whipped to the side, surprised someone was standing up for her.

"Um, excuse me, who are you?" the popular girl smirked. "Get lost, geek."

"Just leave her alone."

"Or what?"

Suddenly, the popular girl's legs literally gave out underneath her and she fell right on the floor. Ethan turned to look at Benny, who was aimlessly looking around, pretending to not have had anything to do with her fall, though Ethan knew he had just cast one of his spells.

The popular girl's posse was helping her up and the hooded girl was now free.

"Hey," Ethan said quietly as he began to walk up to her.

The girl pulled her hood over her face and scrambled away faster than he thought was possible.

"Hey, wait!" Ethan called. He saw her turn her head for a brief second, but she kept walking quickly away from him.

Benny came up behind him and clapped his arm around Ethan's shoulders. "Well done, my friend. You even repel the shy girls."

Ethan pushed Benny off as he stared after that beautiful girl.

* * *

The girl went home after school and walked into her silent house. She immediately went up to her room and put on her headphones to listen to some music. She went on her computer to check Facebook when tears started forming in her eyes. This had been the millionth time that stupid popular girl had caught her and teased her in the middle of school. She was sick and tired of having to put up with it, but was far too quiet and shy to do anything.

Tears spilled down her face as she recalled the events that happened in the hall. Then, that boy's face filled her mind. The one who said something to the popular girl. He was kinda cute in that geeky kind of way.

With tears stains on her cheeks, she promised herself that tomorrow she would find him, even if it meant actually talking to someone.

* * *

"So, you still haven't seen her at all?" Benny asked Ethan at school.

"No, it's like she disappeared," Ethan replied as he shoved some books into his locker.

"Hey, Ethan!"

Ethan turned to find his long-time crush walking up to the two boys. Sarah Fox was absolutely gorgeous and could turn Ethan into a puddle just by standing next to him. Ever since yesterday though, he couldn't get that shy girl out of his mind.

"Word is that you actually spoke out to that head cheerleader yesterday. I'm impressed."

"She was teasing this other girl. Someone had to do something. Benny helped."

"Ah, just a good trip spell, whatever," Benny said as if it was no big deal.

That was when the shy girl came up to him with the dark hoodie on and the hood pulled up once again.

"Hey," Ethan said as he lightly touched her arm.

She looked over at him with slightly wide eyes, more surprised than anything. "You're that guy from yesterday."

"Yeah, that's me," he answered giving a crooked smile.

The girl took her hood off, revealing her full beauty. Her hair was even more beautiful with the hood down and the light shone on her now exposed, perfect skin. "Thanks for that," she said quietly.

"It was nothing."

"Hey, you know, I helped too," Benny said jumping beside Ethan, causing the girl to back away a little.

"I'm Ethan," Ethan introduced.

"I'm Natalia," the girl answered, shoving her hands in her front pockets.

"And I'm Benny, but I also go by 'the man of your dreams.'" Natalia didn't even smile, but kept her face straight. "I'll be over here," Benny said awkwardly.

Natalia looked at Ethan. "It's not every day someone does that for me."

"Um, just glad I could help."

Natalia gave a small smile so quick, Ethan wasn't sure if he imagined it or not. "I have to go." She pulled her hood back over her face and quickly walked away.

* * *

Ethan grabbed his food from the lunch line and went to go sit with Benny, Sarah, and Erica when he saw an unmistakable dark hoodie with the hood pulled up.

He went over to the shy girl who was sitting alone at a table.

"Hey, Natalia?" Ethan said. She whipped her head around to face him. "It's okay, it's just me," he smiled, holding his free hand out in front him, showing he meant no harm.

She turned away from him and resumed eating. Ethan set his tray down on the table and sat down next to her. She turned her head once more to look at him.

"My friends and I are eating over there if you wanna join us."

Natalia looked over at the table and saw them all talking and laughing together. "No, thanks," she said quietly. She knew that if she went over there, she would immediately be left out of their conversations. She noticed that the boy's face actually looked kind of…dejected.

"Well, we're there every day if you ever want to come over."

She nodded and turned away from him. He picked his tray up and left. She watched him go, utterly confused. No one had ever talked to her in a long time, much less invited her over. She smiled to herself. She kind of liked this.


	2. Friday Night Party

"Natalia!"

Natalia turned to find Ethan and Benny walking over to her as she was about to walk home.

"Want some company?" Ethan asked.

Natalia started to say no, but she thought about how she had been walking home alone every day for a couple years. Perhaps it was time to change that. And she wouldn't mind walking home with these two cute guys. "Sure."

The two boys smiled. No one had ever actually taken them up on that offer before. It was a good day for everyone!

Ethan stood on one side of her while Benny stood on the other.

"So…" Ethan started, trying to spark up some conversation. "What do you do for fun?"

"I read. All kinds of stuff. Mostly Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling."

"You like Harry Potter?"

Natalia gave a small smile. "Who doesn't like Harry Potter?"

Ethan smiled. "Well, Benny pretty much hangs out at my house all the time and we play vid—I mean, watch hockey."

"And almost every Friday," Benny put in, "Ethan's babysitter comes over."

"Wait," Natalia said. "You need a babysitter?"

Ethan chuckled awkwardly. "It's for my little sister, not me."

"Why don't you just watch her?"

"I, uh, just, uh, got into some trouble with Mom."

Natalia smiled bigger than before. "So, what were you about to say before you lied and said you watch hockey?"

"What?"

"I mean, you don't seem like the kind of person to watch hockey every day, plus you said "play vid" before changing your mind."

Ethan and Benny looked at each other, deciding neither of them wanted to answer her.

"It's cool," she said, noticing their looks. "I like video games too."

"You what?" Benny asked, astounded.

"I know, it's weird. But I do like them. I've been trying to get my hands on the new Galactitac video game for months, but it's unavailable or sold out everywhere!"

Benny smiled and pulled the game out of his bag.

"No. Way," Natalia said. "How did you get this?"

"I don't buy and tell," Benny said.

"It's Friday," Ethan said. "You wanna come over and play this with us?"

"Are you serious?"

"Totally. Maybe you can help me finally beat this guy," he answered, pointing at Benny.

"Hey, not my fault you don't got game!"

Natalia laughed for the first time and realized they had made it to her house. "Oh, well, here's my stop."

"I'm just down the road a couple blocks," Ethan said. "You can come over whenever."

"Alright, let me just run in and grab a bite."

Ethan and Benny looked at her, in a kind of freaked out way.

"What?" Natalia asked.

"What kind of bite?" Benny asked.

"I was just gonna make a sandwich and get a granola bar. Why?"

"Oh. No reason."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you in a few!" She closed the door behind her, leaving the two boys alone.

"What just happened?" Ethan asked.

"What just happened was we have got a video game date with a totally hot actual girl!" Benny exclaimed, high-fiving his best friend.

* * *

Natalia leaned against her door for a second and could hear the two boys cheering to themselves outside. She smiled and took her hood down. That had been the best walk home ever. Not only did she make two new friends who were pretty cute, but she also got invited over to play a video game she'd wanted for months!

She couldn't decide which one she liked better: Ethan or Benny. Ethan was shy like her, so that was nice, but it would probably also make things difficult in the future. Benny was certainly outgoing…maybe a bit too outgoing. On the other hand, maybe he could help her get past her own shyness.

After dropping her stuff off in her room, she went to the kitchen and fixed up a snack. She wondered why the two boys had acted so weird after she said she going to get something to eat. Was it really that unusual to get something after school?

After she ate, she scribbled out a note for her parents telling them that she was out. They had been trying to find friends for her for years, so she knew they wouldn't care who she hung out with as long as they didn't do anything illegal.

She grabbed her phone, wallet, and after putting her hood back on, walked over to Ethan's.

* * *

As soon as they heard the doorbell ring, the two boys raced to the door. Ethan won.

"Hey, Natalia!"

"Hey! So are we ready?"

"So ready!" Benny exclaimed. The three of them raced up the stairs to play Benny's new game.

They all grabbed controllers and started pushing buttons as fast as they could as soon as the game started.

"Whoa, Natalia, you're really good," Ethan remarked.

"Told you I like video games," she smiled.

They lost track of time and pretty soon, they heard the doorbell ring, meaning that Sarah was there to babysit, but none of them paid any attention to it.

"Ethan?" Mrs. Morgan said as she came into his room. "Sarah's here, and—Oh my gosh, a girl is in here."

"Uh, yeah. So Sarah's here?"

"Hi, I'm Ethan's mom," Mrs. Morgan said, ignoring Ethan as she shook hands with Natalia. "We don't have many girls over here. Well, we have Jane, who's my daughter, and Sarah just comes over to babysit for us. You're the first in a while."

"Mom!" Ethan exclaimed, turning a slight shade of red.

"Anyway, Sarah's here. Your dad and I are off to go catch the new thriller movie, _Thriller_!" She headed to the door. "Nice to meet you!" she called.

"Well, your mom's nice," Natalia said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Ethan didn't respond but just went back to playing the game.

After a couple hours, Ethan went to go grab some snacks from the kitchen.

"Hey, Sarah," he said as he passed by her.

"Hey, where have you been all night?" she asked.

"Me, Benny, and this really hot girl from school, Natalia, are playing the new Galactitac video game."

"Wait, a hot girl is playing video games with you nerds?"

"Hey, it can happen."

She smiled. "Whatever. Have fun."

Ethan grabbed some food from the kitchen and went to go back up, but stopped in front of Sarah. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure!" she smiled, motioning for him to sit down next to her on the couch.

"Well, Natalia's really sweet and I want to see if she wants to do something tomorrow night."

"Okay, and?"

"How am I supposed to ask her? She's really shy, plus I haven't known her all that long. I don't want to freak her out."

"Well, first of all, don't ask her when Benny's around. Just don't. And then just ask her! I can bet she doesn't want it to be really mushy, she just wants to hang out with you. Why don't you take her to the fair that's about to leave town?"

"Isn't that really more for actual couples?"

"Well, yes, but it's also good when you want to get to know someone. Haven't you ever seen _The Notebook_?"

"Ugh, Jane made me watch it with her. Never again."

Sarah laughed warmly. "Do it tonight before she leaves. And don't worry. I'll be here to make sure you don't chicken out!"

Ethan gave her an awkward smile and went back upstairs. He had butterflies in his stomach, but he couldn't tell if it was from talking with Sarah or what he was about to ask Natalia.

They finished halfway through the game before Natalia decided to call it a night. Her eyes were swimming and a headache was coming on.

The two boys walked with her downstairs.

"Benny, can you come here?" Sarah called. She gave Ethan a wink and took Benny into the other room.

"Uh, I'll walk you home," Ethan said as they stepped onto the porch.

"Oh, okay."

They started walking down the street towards Natalia's house. Natalia shoved her hands in her front pockets on her hoodie.

"You're quite the gamer," Ethan said.

"I've always loved video games. They allow me to be someone entirely different. Someone who isn't afraid of anything. Someone who isn't shy or scared."

"I completely understand."

They reached her house in no time and stood on the porch.

"Um, Natalia?" Ethan stammered.

"Yeah?"

"Look, the fair's in town for only one more day, and I was thinking you and I could…you know…maybe hang out tomorrow night there?"

"Like, a date?"

"No! No, just two friends hanging out."

Natalia smiled shyly. "Yeah, I think that'd be really fun."

"So, want me to pick you up at seven? That gives us four hours there."

"Okay. I'll, um, see you then."

Natalia opened the door and went inside. She just stood there for a second in awe. Someone just asked to hang out with her. Someone cute. She actually had Saturday night plans. Best. Friday. Ever.


	3. Date with Ethan-Sorta

Natalia couldn't care less about making herself pretty for Ethan. She wasn't one of those shallow girls who made themselves look totally fake for a guy. If Ethan wanted to hang out with her, then he wanted to hang out with the girl he had seen for three days. So she put on her usual hoodie and pulled the hood up. This was just who she was, and it was who Ethan liked. Not some fake girl with a tight shirt and skirt and a pound of makeup that made her look like a raccoon. No. This was her.

Her doorbell rang and she raced down the stairs to answer it. Once there, she placed her hand on the knob, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Hey," Ethan smiled.

Natalia smiled back and placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

They started walking down to the fairgrounds.

"So, how was your day?" Ethan asked, breaking the silence.

"Fine. How was yours?"

"Fine." Ethan's phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket. "Just a message from Sarah." He quickly responded back and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

They made casual conversation before they finally made it to the fairgrounds. There weren't many people, and they saw with delight that all the lines were short. When they approached the ticket booth, Natalia pulled out some money, but Ethan stopped her.

"No, no, my treat!" he smiled.

"It's not a date," she said quietly.

"No, but it's called being a nerdy gentleman."

Natalia smiled brightly and allowed Ethan to pay for her ticket that allowed them both unlimited food and rides.

Ethan's phone buzzed again and she assumed it was Sarah. She didn't mind though. It wasn't like she and Ethan were dating. He could talk to whoever he wanted. This was just two friends hanging out.

The two of them went immediately to this huge drop tower that they had to crane their necks all the way back to see to the top.

"You don't get sick on these things, do you?" Natalia asked. "Because if you hurl all over me, I'll never forgive you."

Ethan laughed. "No, I love these kinds of things."

Natalia smiled and the two of them waited in the line.

After coming off the ride, Natalia couldn't stop laughing. "What kind of a scream was that?" she laughed at Ethan.

"You're one to talk! Yours kept fading in and out!"

"Well, you were squeaking!"

The pair laughed and went to get some cotton candy.

They did a few more rides and got some popcorn, a funnel cake, and some Dippin' Dots.

"Ethan, let's play some of the games."

"I don't know. I've never been good at those."

"No one is. Everyone knows they rig these things so they're impossible to win. It's just fun to try."

"Fine."

Natalia smiled and pulled him over to the booth where they had to knock over a stack of bottles. She paid for one game that gave her three chances to knock down the bottles. She managed to successfully knock over three of the six, but couldn't knock down all of them.

"Alright, my turn," Ethan said. He paid for his game and on the first try, knocked down all six.

Natalia's mouth dropped. "I thought you said you weren't good at these."

Ethan gave a shy smile. "I'm not. I just imagined it like Level 72 of Galactitac last night and just went for it."

"I've gotta remember that technique!"

The man in the booth handed Ethan a small stuffed animal of a monkey.

"For you," Ethan said as he handed her his prize.

"Why thank you!"

The fair started packing up, so Ethan and Natalia decided to head home. Once on Natalia's porch, she said to him, "I had a really good time tonight."

"Yeah, me too."

"Thanks for inviting me."

"No prob."

Ethan's phone buzzed for the thousandth time that night.

Natalia let out a small chuckle. "Ethan," she said softly. He looked up at her. "Why don't you just tell her?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"That girl, Sarah. You've been texting her all night and you have quite the reputation at school for having a huge crush on her."

"Uh…" Ethan stuttered as his cheeks turned a light shade of red. Did everyone really know that he liked Sarah? Did _she _know?

"Just tell her how you feel. Because honestly, I think she likes you too."

Ethan gave a lopsided smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, I can see it."

Was that true? Did Sarah Fox, the girl of his dreams, really like him back?


	4. Schoolwork with Benny

Natalia knew she had just had the best night of her life. And she wasn't upset about his huge crush on Sarah. She may have liked Ethan at first, but after spending all day with him, she knew she liked him more like a brother.

Benny, however, was another story. The whole night they had been playing video games, she laughed at everything he said, no matter how stupid. He knew what made her laugh, and she was pretty sure he let her win a couple times.

She would just have to wait and see.

Speaking of Benny, he came up to her as she was on her way to her next class.

"Hey, how was your date with Ethan?"

"It wasn't a date. We were just hanging out. Besides, we both know he has a crush on Sarah."

"Yeah, hard to deny that one. What class are you heading to?"

"Science, with Shapiro."

"Hey, me too. I'll walk you."

"We've been in the same class all year and haven't noticed each other?"

"Well, you're, like, the quietest girl I've ever met, and you stay in the back of the classroom all the time with your hood up."

"Fair point."

In class, the teacher told them to grab a partner so they could work on the lab for the remainder of the class period.

"Hey, Natalia!" Benny said. "Wanna be my partner?"

"Sure! Hopefully, you'll understand this more than I do."

"Totally. Remember, I'm the nerd in school. More so in Calculus, but this works too."

Natalia smiled. It was weird. Just a few days ago, she was afraid to talk to anyone who drew breath. But now, she had just spent a weekend filled with video games and hanging out with guy friends, and here she was chatting as if she was a talkative person her whole life. She liked the change.

Benny set up all their equipment at a lab station, and Natalia headed over to stand next to him. They put on their goggles (which Natalia hated because not only did they make her look ridiculous, but they left marks on her face) and started the lab.

Benny followed the lab instructions, while Natalia recorded everything in her notebook. Everything was going just fine until she saw Benny grab the wrong vial.

"No, Benny, wait! That's the—"

She couldn't stop him in time and he poured the liquid into the beaker. It bubbled up furiously and red goop went flying. Natalia ducked just in time, but Benny wasn't so lucky. She looked at him and saw that his face was covered in the red goop.

She tried to hide her laughter, but it was useless.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. "Let's get you cleaned up."

She took him to the universal bathroom—the one with only one toilet.

She got some wet paper towels and tried to clean off the mess he was wearing, but it was obvious his shirt was ruined.

"This was my favorite shirt," he pouted.

"I tried to tell you that was the wrong vial," she laughed. "I think that was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life."

"Maybe for you. I'm never going to live it down!"

Natalia laughed as she kept trying to clean him up. Their eyes met at one point, and Natalia could've sworn she wasn't in the bathroom any longer. It was like nothing else mattered and she didn't have a care in the world.

She forced herself to snap out of it and get back to trying to get all the gunk to come off the poor boy.

* * *

Natalia was walking to her next class when she bumped into Sarah.

"Hey, you're Natalia, right?" she said with a kind smile.

Natalia nodded shyly.

"Right, I helped Ethan score a date with you."

"It wasn't a date."

"No?"

"No. We were just hanging out."

"Okay, whatever you say. I'm Sarah," she said as she shook her hand.

"Ethan's babysitter."

Sarah smiled. "Well, technically, I'm Jane's babysitter. Ethan just happens to be there too."

A girl with light blonde hair came up behind Sarah. "Hey, Sarah. Who's this?"

"Natalia. She's caught Ethan's eye."

"Oh, please, everyone knows you're the only girl Ethan has his eye on," the girl answered.

Natalia hid a small laugh as Sarah's cheeks brightened. "This is my best friend, Erica," Sarah said.

"Hi," Natalia said even more shyly. This was one of the really popular girls. She wasn't really comfortable talking to her. The two nerds were more on her level.

Erica just looked at her strangely, as if analyzing her. "What's your blood type?" she asked out of the blue.

"Erica!" Sarah exclaimed.

"What? She looks—"

"No!"

Erica let out a little huff and briskly walked off.

"Sorry," Sarah said. "She really isn't as bad as she seems. She'll kill me for telling you this, but she used to be a huge nerd herself. I mean glasses, crazy hair, baggy t-shirts, the whole works. But she decided to get a makeover and here we are."

Natalia watched the tall blonde walk away. There was something about her. She seemed really…different. And not just because she was popular. Plus, Benny and Ethan acted really weird when she said she grabbing a bite.

What was going on?

* * *

Natalia was about to head out when Benny grabbed her. "Hey, you wanna come over for a bit so we can finish the lab?"

Natalia smiled. "Sure, why not? Let me just stop home and I'll be right over."

Natalia practically ran home and shut the door firmly behind her. She couldn't believe her luck. Did something happen to her that made her all popular all of a sudden? She hadn't talked to anyone in years and now here she was, friends with three new people, two of them super cute.

She grabbed what she needed, plus a little snack, and headed over to Benny's.

She knocked on the door and an older woman answered.

"Oh, hi!" she greeted warmly. "You must be Natalia. Benny's talked a lot about you. Come on in!"

Natalia stepped inside and the woman guided her to the living room.

"I'm Benny's grandma. Benny will be right down. Make yourself at home. I have some of my special brownies set out for you two while you study."

"Oh, thanks."

She heard footsteps on the stairs and watched as Benny came down, tripped on the last stair, and tried to play it off like nothing happened.

"Shall we get started?"

"If you need anything, just let me know," Benny's grandma said to the pair.

"Okay, thanks Grandma!"

"And Benny, I know you said she was cute, but I better not catch you doing anything but studying."

"Grandma!" Benny exclaimed, turning red.

Natalia giggled and pulled her science notebook and textbook.

"It looks like we just need to finish filling in the data and write a conclusion, and then we're done," she told him.

They spent the next few minutes finishing up their lab, then Natalia wrote both of their names on it and stapled her notebook paper with the lab paper.

"Do you have any other homework?" Benny asked her.

"Just some math homework. You said you were really good at calculus, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I have a huge test tomorrow and to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing. I could really use the help."

"Sure thing. Do you have your book?"

"Yeah, right here."

They must've sat there studying for hours trying to learn Calculus.

"It's getting late and my brain is full," Natalia said. "I'm going to head home."

"Uh, Grandma's making dinner if you want to stay."

Natalia smiled. "I don't want to impose."

"No, dear!" Benny's grandma said as she came into the room. "We'd love to have you. It's not every day we get a girl like you over here."

"Grandma…" Benny groaned.

"I've made my famous spaghetti. Everyone goes nuts for it."

"Well," Natalia said, "I guess I could a spare a few more minutes."

Benny's grandma ushered them to the dining room and sat them down to eat. "So, Natalia," she started, "tell me about yourself."

"Well, there's not much to tell. I live down the street with my mom and dad. They both work in an office, and I'm trying not to follow in their footsteps."

"How'd you meet my grandson?"

"Well, I met Ethan first, and then Benny just kind of came into the picture. Literally."

"Benny, you said the girl was beautiful, but you never said how nice she was."

"Grandma!"

Natalia blushed furiously and used her hood to desperately try to hide it. Though she wasn't sure who was redder: her or Benny.


	5. Bewitched!

"Benny!"

Benny turned from talking with Ethan to find Natalia running up to him.

"I got an A on my Calc test!" she said waving the paper in his face.

"Wow, I knew you could do it!"

"Good job, Natalia!" Ethan said.

"Thanks, Ethan." She looked at Benny. "I couldn't have done it without you." She threw her arms around his neck as Ethan's mouth dropped.

Natalia's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing. "Uh," she stammered, letting go of him. "I'm just gonna…go…to my next class." She covered her face with her hood and practically sprinted down the hall.

"Dude, she's so into you," Ethan said, elbowing his friend. "Go ask her out. Like right now."

"Not until you ask Sarah."

"That's not fair."

* * *

"Hey guys!" Natalia said as she sat down with Ethan and Benny at the lunch table. "Where's Sarah?"

"She's in the library researching for her history paper," Ethan said.

"Oh, the one for Ferry's class?"

"Yeah, that one. You have it too?"

"Yep. I've been researching for two weeks, and I feel like I haven't even made any progress whatsoever."

"We'll help you out," Benny said.

"Oh, would you guys? It'd really help me out a lot, especially with my workload piling up more and more each day."

"Sure. How about after school?"

Natalia smiled. "You guys are the best."

Both boys blushed.

* * *

After school, the trio went straight to the library and began helping Natalia find sources she could use for her paper. It was on the Whitechapel Witch Trials from the 1600s. It was such a boring paper to write and half the stuff she read made absolutely no sense, and the other half was from unreliable sources.

"Hey, Natalia," Ethan called. "Here's a good one."

Natalia flipped through the pages of the book and decided that it couldn't hurt to check it out and try to incorporate it in her paper. "This should work. Thanks, Ethan."

"No problem," he answered, giving her one of those crooked smiles.

He was so cute. Natalia had to admit that she got butterflies whenever she talked to him. But he had a crush on Sarah, and it was becoming more obvious that Benny liked her more than Ethan did. Why did both of them have to be so cute and nice and everything she'd ever wanted in a guy?

* * *

After scouring tons of books over the course of the next couple of weeks (and also growing closer and closer to Benny each day), she came across one that seemed like all the others: full of nonsense.

She flipped to one page and there was some incantation that supposedly one of the witches from the trials, Zara, said as her final words.

Natalia looked at them and tried to pronounce them.

"Ut meus heir est instituo, ego vadum reverto!"

Natalia's eyes turned to a solid, deep purple. She stood there for a second and the book fell from her grasp onto the floor. Heads turned at the loud noise, but she remained still.

Finally, she snapped out of it.

She looked at her hands and felt her hair. She went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, touching her face and hair. As she looked at her clothes, deciding that she needed a makeover, she smiled to herself.

This was no longer Natalia.

This was Zara.


	6. Zara's Fun

"Hey, have you seen Natalia lately?" Benny asked Ethan.

"Not today, I haven't," Ethan replied. "Why, are you finally going to ask her out?"

"You're one to talk. It's been over a year, and you still haven't asked Sarah out. What are you waiting for?"

"I'll do it when I'm ready."

"You know, our deal's still on."

"What deal?"

"You owe me a hundred bucks if you don't ask Sarah out within a year. I'll take it in cash."

"I still have a few more weeks."

"Well, if you see Natalia, let me know." Benny left to head to his class as Ethan rolled his eyes over their date conversation.

That's when Zara walked through the door. She was wearing a very tight red top that accented all her curves, and a short black leather skirt with black tights, and black knee-high boots. Her hair was straightened and flowed out of her head like a waterfall. She had heavily applied a ton of mascara and eyeliner, along with a very deep shade of red lipstick.

Ethan's mouth dropped open. "Uh, Natalia?" he asked as she came up to him.

She rested her hand on the locker near his head and leaned on it as she faced him. "You like?" she smiled.

"Uh, what happened to you?"

"Oh, I don't know, I decided to get a whole new look."

Ethan's mind started racing. This was very similar to what had happened with Erica after she had been bit by her vampire boyfriend. "Uh, have you had a change in diet recently?"

"If you mean those weight loss granola bars, yes. They are disgusting. I don't know why I ever liked them."

Well, it didn't seem like she was a vampire. So then what the heck was up with her? "Um, Benny's looking for you."

"Benny, Benny, Benny. Forget about him. Let's talk about you."

"Huh?"

"Come on, Ethan. I know you like me, and I like you too. I have since I first saw you."

"You're the one who told me to ask Sarah out. And besides, I thought you liked Benny."

"Well, if I liked Benny, would I do this?" Zara grabbed his shirt, pushed him against the lockers, and threw her lips onto his. She kissed him hard and passionately and then released him against the lockers and simply walked away.

Ethan watched her go and then passed out onto the floor.

* * *

When Zara walked into Benny's class, he almost fell out of his chair. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"I got a makeover. I was tired of being hidden in my shell and decided to just let it go."

"Well, you look really hot."

Zara chuckled. "Thanks."

Benny couldn't pay attention the entire class period as all of his focus went on Zara's new look.

Zara decided to have a little fun before she went to work. She discreetly waved her hand and Benny fell right out of his chair.

"Mr. Weir!" the teacher exclaimed angrily. "Perhaps if you spent more time focusing on the lesson and kept your hormones in check, you'd be more careful."

"Sorry, sir."

Zara smiled at him. He didn't suspect a thing.

Zara kept up her fun when she bumped into Erica.

"Oh, you," Erica said in her usual tone.

"Yeah, me," Zara replied.

"What's up with the new look? Did you get bit too?"

"Bit? What are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

Zara smiled. "Oh, Erica, if only you could see that everyone sees right through your little act."

"What act?"

"Please, you're just putting on a show for everyone. I know you weren't always like this. In fact, you were like the girl version of Ethan and Benny!"

If looks could kill, Zara might've died. "What did you just say?"

Erica hissed as her fangs appeared and she lunged for her, but Zara held up her hand, freezing Erica in place. "So you're a vampire. That explains a lot," Zara smiled. This was going to be fun.

Zara watched as Erica pranced through school with high pigtails in her hair and acting like a seven-year-old girl.

"No one messes with me," she said as she watched all the guys run away from Erica, as she was acting creepier than usual.

She pointed her finger at the girl and put her in a little school girl dress and added bows to the pigtails.

"Have fun, Erica. No one will want you now."

* * *

"Hey, Sarah!" Erica said as she bounced up to her friend happily.

Sarah's mouth dropped open. "Erica…what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" she answered in a high, squeaky voice.

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"Um, maybe we should go get Ethan…"

"EWWWWW! Boys have cooties! I don't want cooties!"

"Erica, snap out of it!"

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, I'm really sorry about this, but…" Without warning, Sarah slapped Erica hard on the face.

"OW!" Erica screamed, attracting stares from people in the hallway. "What happened?" She looked at herself. "Why am I dressed like this?"

"I have no idea, but you might wanna change. Like now."

"OMG, this is so embarrassing!"

Sarah looked after her friend as she raced down the hall in her little dress.

Zara watched from afar, anger spreading on her face as Sarah broke her spell. She waved her hand at Sarah, and suddenly, she slammed into the lockers.

"OW!" Sarah exclaimed. She looked around her. Zara waved her hand again and sent Sarah once again into the lockers.

"Sarah?" she heard. She watched as Ethan went over to the poor girl who was now lying on the ground in pain. "What happened?"

"I don't know!"

With one hand, Zara waved her hand at Ethan

"Sarah?"

"What?"

"I can't move."

With her other hand, Zara waved it at Sarah. She sent Sarah onto the ground and pushed her away into another hall. Then she took Ethan and made him go in the opposite direction.

Zara didn't know much about Sarah, but she knew she hated her. All attention was supposed to be focused on Zara, not Sarah. And this girl knew how to break her spells. She was trouble and needed to be dealt with.

This wasn't over.


	7. The Plan for Sarah-And Zara

Zara was walking through the halls, catching the eyes of every single guy she passed, to go home and find a spell or potion she could use on Sarah.

"Hey, Natalia!" she heard Ethan call. But Zara didn't stop to talk to him. She needed to get rid of Sarah as fast as possible. "Natalia!" he called again.

Ethan ran after her and touched her arm.

His eyes turned to a milky white as he received a vision about her.

_Flash._

A woman he didn't know with wild hair was tied to a pyre and was burning at a stake as she screamed curses at her audience.

_Flash._

Natalia was reading a book in the library.

_Flash._

The woman from the stake merged with Natalia's figure.

_Flash._

Sarah was screaming and then she blacked out into an endless sleep.

_Flash._

"Let go of me!" Zara cried as she yanked her arm out of Ethan's grasp. "Just leave me alone." She started off down the hallway once more as Ethan tried to put together what he just saw.

"Ethan?"

Benny appeared beside his best friend, watching Zara walk down the hall.

"Benny, I think we're in trouble."

"Why? Did they finally catch you for hacking into the school's mainframe? Dude, I told you that was a bad idea! Did you really need to find out about our grades that bad?"

"No, it's not that. I just had a vision. Wait, what are you talking about? The only reason I hacked into it was because you were the one begging me."

"What…?"

"No, something's wrong with Natalia."

"Wrong? You mean the best thing ever has happened to Natalia. I mean, look at her. She's even hotter than before!"

"Yeah, but I think something really bad has happened to her. I think she's, like, possessed."

"Possessed? Oh, no, like Sarah-possessed?" Benny said, as both of them remembered Sarah being possessed by a demon from a spirit board and ensuing chaos on the house and Ethan's life.

"No, I saw a woman burning at a stake and she was screaming Latin or something. Then I saw her and Natalia…I don't know…merge together," Ethan answered.

"Well, if she was burning at the stake and saying Latin, my guess is she was probably a witch."

"Ugh, like Stephanie?"

"No, worse. She was a witch from hundreds of years ago. Witch powers were different then and way more powerful. So, how the heck did she get into Natalia?"

"She was reading some book in the library, probably for her paper."

"Don't tell me. We have to find the book, figure it out, and save the day?"

"Yeah, but there's something else. I think that witch wants to do something to Sarah. Like, something really bad."

* * *

Zara briskly walked home as fast as she could. Even though the whole witches-ride-broomsticks-thing was cliché and inaccurate, she couldn't help but wish she had one since it would get her home a lot faster.

Once confined to the safety of her room, she waved her hands and a spell book appeared in front of her. She smiled and held the book close to her.

"It's been a long time," she said quietly, as if the book was her pet. She flipped it open and scanned for the potion she would need in order to get rid of Sarah.

"Oh, here we go," she mused. She flipped to the page that read, _Imbibo of Dolor._ It was a potion that inflicted so much pain on the victim, it eventually ended in death, even for vampires. She took a look at the ingredients required and found them easy to procure.

She spent the next few hours whipping up her materials and then mixing them all together. Sarah didn't know what she was in for.

Her work was cut short when a shot of pain swept through her.

"Fighting back, are we?" she growled at the girl she had taken over. "I don't think so. This is my time. Back then, I was burned alive for what I did. But now, everything belongs to me!"

She swept her hand over her body and the girl silenced.

"That's better. Now, do not interrupt me again."

Zara went back to her work on the potion. Once she finally finished mixing all the ingredients, she said a spell over the liquid, and then poured the elixir into a bottle that she would give to Sarah at school the next day. After all, Sarah didn't suspect a thing. As far as she knew, this was still Natalia, not Zara. And Sarah trusted Natalia. And that was all she needed.

* * *

Ethan and Benny went straight to the library after Ethan received his vision about Natalia. He was forced to tell Benny everything, and Benny was not happy to learn about the kiss. But Ethan reminded him that it was a witch who kissed him, not the Natalia he was in love with.

That was strange for Benny to hear. He had never actually been in love with someone. But he knew Natalia was different from every girl he'd ever met. And he did love her. He just hoped she felt the same way about him.

"How are we even going to know exactly what book she was reading from?" Benny asked once they were in the library.

"I saw it in my vision," Ethan answered as he started scanning the shelves. After he had looked at nearly every shelf, he finally found the one he had seen from his vision. "Benny!" he called in a whisper.

Benny walked over and the two of them started to look at the book's pages, trying to see which one would explain what was happening to Natalia.

"Hey, wait," Benny said as Ethan was turning the page. "Here's something."

"'Many women were burned in the trials as alleged witches, though little proof was given.'," Ethan read.

"Harsh," Benny commented.

"'One of the women named Zara yelled out what everyone assumed was an incantation, which just led them to believe that they were right in burning her.' Then it tells us what she was screaming at the audience."

"I think that's Latin."

"What does it mean?"

"Hold on." Benny took out his phone and Google'd the words. "It looks like it's a kind of promise."

"What does it mean?" Ethan repeated.

"It means 'When my heir is found, I shall return.'"

They stood there confused for a second before Ethan said, "Let's see if we can find Natalia's family tree."

Ethan and Benny headed back to Benny's house, since he had the more magical stuff. Ethan pulled out his laptop from his backpack and searched for Natalia's family history while Benny tried to find a way to counteract whatever was going on with Natalia.

"Okay," Ethan finally said. "It took three hours, but I was finally able to trace Natalia's family tree all the way back to the 1600's. And here's Zara, plain as day. Natalia is Zara's heir, which must mean that's why she was possessed by Zara. Natalia must've read the incantation out loud."

"I think I found a way to get Zara out of Natalia," Benny said as he held up his own spell book.

"Why don't we just do what we did when Sarah was possessed?"

"Aw, gee, I don't know, because we ended up letting Jesse out of the _cubile animus_, he threatened to take Sarah, and then he BIT YOU!"

"Point taken."

"This spell will get rid of Zara and her spirit forever."

"And it won't hurt Natalia?"

"Well, it'll hurt getting Zara out, but she won't die."

"I guess it's all we can do."

"I have to work on getting this down though. I can't afford to mess up this spell. If I do, I could seriously hurt Natalia."

"Well, hurry up, because we haven't got much time. Zara's going to do something to Sarah really soon."

"Don't worry. Both of our girls will be just fine."


	8. Couples :)

After the final bell had rung, Zara searched for Sarah. She had avoided Ethan and Benny all day because she had a feeling they knew what was going on. She hadn't missed Ethan's eyes turning a solid white. It meant he was a Seer. And that meant he probably saw everything and no doubt, told Benny about it. She would just have to work swiftly.

"Hey, Sarah!" she called down the nearly empty hallway in a friendly tone.

"Oh, hi Natalia! I haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, I've been hanging out with Ethan and Benny. Actually, I've even kissed Ethan!"

Sarah's face fell only for a second, but Zara noticed her attempts to hide her hurt feelings. "You did? Really?"

This was good. Having her weak and vulnerable would have the potion work even quicker. "Yeah, and he was kissing back. Like a lot. I think he was really enjoying it."

Sarah's face fell even more.

Zara suppressed her laughs that threatened to come out. "Anyway, that's not the reason I called you. We have this really huge paper coming up right? Well, a friend gave me this special kind of energy drink that relieves your stress and helps you think a lot clearer. It really helped me write mine last night. I thought you might want to try it." She pulled the bottle out of her bag and handed it to her. "You might as well. You've got nothing to lose."

"Well, I guess so."

"Good luck on your paper. I'll see you around." Zara turned and left and then stayed out of Sarah's sight to watch her drink the potion and make sure it worked.

Sarah twisted the lid off the bottle and smelled the liquid inside. She stared at the bottle once more and Zara was dying from anticipation.

She put the bottle up to her lips and leaned it up, and…

"SARAH, DON'T!"

Zara's blood boiled at the sound of Ethan's voice, with Benny following close behind.

"Ethan? What's going on?"

"Trust me, you don't want to drink that!" he exclaimed taking the bottle from her.

"Why? It's just an energy drink."

"No, it's not. It's a potion."

"Where'd she go?" Benny asked her.

Zara stepped out from her hiding spot. "I'm right here," she said menacingly. "Bravo to you, my good gentlemen, for protecting this girl from my power."

"Does someone want to tell me what's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Natalia's been possessed by a witch, and that witch wants to kill you," Ethan told her.

Sarah just stood there in shock. They had faced some very strange things before, but this had to take the cake.

"Let Natalia go," Benny demanded.

Zara laughed. "Oh, don't worry. She's as safe as can be, hidden deep inside me. She's a fighter. She keeps trying to overpower me, but she can't. And she's so annoying. All I hear is 'Benny, help me!' and 'Benny, save me!' and Benny, I need you!'"

"She can hear me?"

"She never shuts up about you. She's very well aware of what's happening. Which means she knows all your secrets. She knows Sarah and Erica are vampires, and she knows Ethan's a Seer."

"What about me?" Benny asked harshly.

"What about you? You're nothing special."

"Wrong answer." Benny chanted the spell, and threw a purple beam at Zara, but she caught it in her hand before it hit her. "Oh, that wasn't supposed to happen."

Zara laughed maliciously. "You can't stop me, spell master!"

Benny released the purple beam and threw another one at her, but Zara waved her hand and sent the beam crashing into the lockers, leaving a huge black dent. Benny must've sent a total of seven purple beams before much of his energy was drained and he didn't know if he could release another one.

Zara raised her hand with an evil smile, and prepared to deliver the final blow. Suddenly, she hunched over in pain.

"Benny?" Zara said, but it wasn't her voice. It sounded like multiple voices speaking at once. "Help me."

"Natalia?"

"Benny, please. I need you."

Zara let out a short scream and pulled herself upright. "I told you she was a fighter. But that's not going to stop me from destroying you and taking over her body permanently."

Benny raised his hand up and purple formed at the tips of his fingers. Zara raised her hand up and red formed at the tips of her fingers.

"I'm not going to let you take her," Benny growled.

Zara gave him another evil smile and the two of them raised their hands to strike the other. If the situation hadn't been so terrible, Benny and Ethan might've been freaking out that this was basically a real life version of their favorite video game and Zara was the final boss level.

"Zara!"

Zara turned to find Erica behind her. She was about to throw her ready-made red beam at her, but before she could do so, she heard the sound of Benny's purple beam release. She whipped around to try to catch or counteract the beam, but it was too late. Erica had distracted her just long enough for Benny to throw the spell at her. It caught her right in the chest.

Zara screamed so loud, everyone thought for sure she was going to shatter the windows. Her scream then had the multiple voice effect again. She clutched her chest in pain and then fell over onto the ground panting.

All three of them ran over to her, Benny getting to her first by a mile.

"Natalia?" he said softly as he lightly touched her shoulder.

She slowly looked up at him, squinting a bit, like she had just come into the light after spending far too long in darkness. "Benny?"

Benny took her up in his arms and held her as she blinked back tears. But this sign of affection was too much, and she found herself crying into his shirt. "Benny, I'm so sorry!" Natalia cried.

"No, I'm sorry I didn't do anything sooner," he said as he gently rubbed the back of her head.

"I saw everything happening, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"It's all right. It's all over now."

Benny pulled her closer to him as the others watched the pair hugging on the floor. Natalia held onto him as if he was her only lifeline.

"How did you know?" Ethan asked Erica.

"That jerk turned me into a seven year old girl. I was about to go drain her, but I overheard you guys in the library, talking about the witch and how Zara said some kind of Latin, and I kind of just pieced it together after that."

"Well, thanks."

"Don't look too much into it."

Benny continued to hold Natalia and rubbed circles onto her back.

After a time, he tried to help her stand up, but immediately her knees buckled. She was still weak from being released from Zara. Benny caught her and then picked her up bridal style. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her home. Benny could feel her shaking in his arms and pressed a light kiss to her head, though he wasn't sure if she noticed it or not.

* * *

The next day, the boys watched Natalia walk into school, back to her old self with her usual thin, dark hoodie with the hood pulled over her head.

"Hey, guys," she said as she came up to them.

"Hey, Natalia," Benny said. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, Zara's definitely gone. Thanks for all your help."

"It was nothing, really."

Sarah came up to them and joined the group. "Hey! Feeling yourself again, Natalia?"

Natalia smiled and nodded. She looked over at Ethan with that all-knowing look. Sarah pulled him over away from the group so it was just Natalia and Benny.

"You know, you don't have to hide anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this."

Benny slowly went up to her, and gently pulled her hood down. He couldn't help but notice what a difference it made. Their eyes met and a connection formed. The two of them drew closer and closer until Benny closed the gap between them and their lips touched in a soft, tender kiss. Benny's hands caressed her neck as Natalia's arms softly pressed against his chest.

They withdrew and Natalia smiled up at him, blushing furiously. "I kinda like my hood down."

Meanwhile, Sarah talked to Ethan away from the other two. "Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for stopping me from drinking that potion. Who knows what it would've done to me?"

"You would've done the same for me. In fact, you kinda already did."

Sarah smiled. "Yeah, I guess. Look, I'm not babysitting on Friday, so do you want to go do something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, anything that doesn't involve spells or witches."

"I'm with you on that one! How about we go see the new zombie movie that just came out?"

"You mean _The Dead Don't Sleep_? I've wanted to see that for weeks, but Erica never wanted to go with me!"

"Cool, so I'll pick you up at seven?"

"It's a date!"

When they realized what she just said, the two of them turned bright red. They turned to rejoin the group to find Natalia and Benny in some serious lip-lock!

The two just stood there, mouths open.

But neither Benny nor Natalia noticed. All they could see was each other as they kissed again, holding each other's hands in front of them.

They were disturbed by the sound of books dropping. Natalia turned to see that same popular girl that Ethan and Benny had saved her from. She looked around her to make sure no one was watching, then waved her hand and sent the blonde onto the floor—hard.

Benny stared at her.

Natalia smiled shyly. "I may have picked up a few things," she admitted.

The four of them laughed together. Natalia took Benny's hand and looked behind her to find Ethan and Sarah closer than she had ever seen them before. She gave Ethan the all-knowing look again and smiled brightly, knowing he was getting just what she had told him to go for.

And now she had what she had told herself to go for. And no one, not even a witch from hundreds of years ago, could ever take it away.


End file.
